Mackie 1642VLZ4 Musical Toy Instrument User Manual


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Owner’s Manual
Owner’s Manual
Levelset(PFL)tapsthechannelsignalbefore
thefader.Ifyouhaveachannel’sfadersetway
below“U”(unitygain),solowon’tknowthat
andwillsendaunitygainsignaltothecontrolroom,
headphones,andmeterdisplay.Thatmayresultin
astartlinglevelboostattheseoutputs,depending
onthepositionofthesolo[46]levelknob.
Inanutshell,soloedchannelsaresenttothesource
[42]mix,thatultimatelyfeedsyourcontrolroom,
headphonesandmeterdisplay.Wheneversolois
engaged,allsourceselections(mainmix,1–2,3–4,
andtape)aredefeated,toallowthesoloedchannel
todojustthat—solo!
28. –20 (Solo) LED
AnLEDthatdoestwocompletelydifferentthings!
Thissavesspace,butrequiressomeexplanation.
First,the“–20”part:Oftenreferredtoas“signal
activity,”thisLEDwillickerintimewiththesignal
presentinthatchannel.It’shandyforconrmingthat
achannelisindeedactive,andmayalsolendaclue
astowhatthesignalis.Forinstance,akickdrumwill
causetheLEDtopulseintimewiththedrum,and
asynthpadwillcauseittoglowabitmoresteadily.
Nowforthe“solo”part:Whenachannel’ssolo[27]
switchisengaged,thisLEDwillglowsteadily.Itwill
alsobebrighterthanitwouldbeasa–20indicator.
Inconjunctionwiththerudesololight[47],youcan
ndaroguesoloswitchveryquickly.
29. OL (Mute) LED
AnotherLEDthatdoestwodifferentthings!
First,the“OL”part:“OL”meansoverload,orclip.You
don’twantthattohappen.Ever.Clippingcanhappen
toanymixer—it’sthepointwherethesignal’svolt-
agetriestoexceedthesupplyvoltagesthatpowerthe
circuitry.ThisOLLEDwillcomeonjustbeforeclipping,
soifyouseeit,takeimmediateaction:Performthe
level-settingprocedure.Ifthatdoesn’thelp,checkfor
excessiveuseofEQboostorfadergain.Likethe–20
LED,itwillickerintimewiththatchannel’ssignal.
Nowforthe“mute”part.Assumingyourlevelsareset
correctly,theOLLEDwillnevercomeonasaresultof
clipping.That’sprettyboring.So,toliventhingsup,this
LEDwillglowsteadilywhenthatchannel’smuteswitch
is engaged.
HereisaquickreferencetotheseLEDs:
30. Mute
Engagingthisswitchprovidesthesameresults
asturningthechannel'sfaderallthewaydown:
AnychannelassignmenttoL-R,1-2or3-4willbe
interrupted.Allthepostauxsendswillbesilenced,
aswillthedirectoutsignalsonchannels1through8,
andtheOL(mute)LEDwillglow.Thepreauxsends,
channelinsertsend,andsolo(inlevelset(PFL)mode)
willcontinuetofunctionduringmute.
Dependingontheaudiocontentinachannel,
engagingitsmuteswitchmaycauseaslightpopping
sound.Thisisnotaproblemwithinthemixer,andit
canbeavoided:Simplyengagethelowcut[34]switch
oneachchannel(unlessitslowfrequencycontentis
vitallyimportant,suchasakickdrumorbassguitar).
Lowcuteliminatessubsonicdebris,whichcausesthe
pop,anditseffectisusuallytransparent.
31. Pan
Panadjuststheamountofchannelsignalsent
totheleftversustherightoutputs.Pandetermines
thefateoftheL/Rassignment,subgroups1–2and3–4,
andthesolo[27](inAFLmode).
Withthepanknobhardleft,thechannelsignalwill
feedtheleftmainmix,subgroup1,subgroup3andleft
(AFL)solomode(assumingtheirassignmentswitches
areengaged).
Withtheknobhardright,thechannelsignalfeeds
therightmainmix,subgroup2,subgroup4andright
(AFL)solomode.
Withthepanknobsetsomewherein-betweenleft
andright,thesignalwillbedividedbetweentheleft
and right buses.
Thepanknobbehavesalittledifferentlyforthe
stereochannelstrips.Sincethereisaleftandright
inputonthesechannels,thepanknobcontrolsthe
relativebalancebetweentheleftandrightsides,just
likethebalancecontrolonyourstereosystemathome.
Stereo Sources
Use channels 9-16 to connect stereo sound sources.
Ifyoumustusethemonochannelstrips(1-8)forstereo
sources,followthisstandardconvention:Alwaysplug
theleftsignalintoan“odd”channel(1,3,5,etc.)and
therightsignalintotheadjacent“even”channel(2,4,6,
etc.).Thenpantheoddchannelhardleftandtheeven
channel hard right.
26. Assign (1–2, 3–4, L–R)
Alongsideeachchannelfaderarefourbuttons,
labeledsolo,1–2,3–4andL/R.Thelatterthreeare
collectivelyreferredtoaschannelassignmentswitches.
1,3andLaretheleftsidesofthesestereopairs,and
2,4andRaretherightsides.Usedinconjunctionwith
thechannel’span[31]knob,theseswitchesdetermine
thedestinationofachannel’ssignal:Withpansetat
thecenterdetent,theleftandrightsidesreceiveequal
signallevels.Tofeedonlyonesideortheother,justturn
the pan knob accordingly.
Ifyou’redoingamixdowntoa2-track,simplyengage
theL/Rswitchoneachchannelthatyouwanttohear,
andthey’llbesenttothemainmix.Ifyouwanttocreate
asubgroupofcertainchannels,engageeitherthe1–2
or3–4switchesinsteadoftheL/R,andthey’llbesent
totheappropriatesubgroupfaders.Fromthere,the
subgroupscanbesentbacktothemainmix,allowing
youtousethesubgroupfadersasamastercontrolfor
those channels.
Ifyou’reprintingnewtracksorbouncingexisting
ones,you’llalsousethe1–2and3–4switches,but
nottheL/Rswitch.Here,youdon’twantthesubgroups
sentbackintothemainmix,butsentout,viathe
subouts[8]jacks,toyourmultitrackinputs.
However,ifyou’reprintingtracksviathedirect
out[5]jacks,allthechannelassignmentswitches
shouldbedisengaged(up).
The1642VLZ4iswhatwecalla“true4-busmixer.”
Eachchannelmaybeassignedorunassignedtoanyof
thesubgroupswithoutaffectingtheothersubgroups
orsettingswithinthechannel,andeachsubgrouphas
itsownmasterfaderanddedicatedoutput.Infact,
sincethereare4subgroupsandthemainL/Rmix,
it’sactuallyatrue6-busmixer.
27. Solo
This lovable switch allows you to check signals in
thephonesorcontrolroomwithouthavingtoassign
themtotheL/R,1-2or3-4mixes.Youcansoloas
manychannelsasyoulike.Solodoesnotinterrupt
anyoftheotherchannels,busesoroutputs—that’s
called nondestructive solo.
Usingthemode[44]switch,the1642VLZ4’ssolo
systemcomesintwoavors:AFL(sometimescalledSIP,
orsolo-in-place)andPFL(pre-fader-listen).Themode
switch is described in tender loving detail on page 21.
Name Color Flickering Glowing
–20(SOLO) green signal present channel soloed
OL(MUTE) red channel clipping channelmuted
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